Among other subjects, Carol Sill & Erica addressed the role of “characters” in telling a story via social media.* Gillian Shaw (who was also on the panel & was great) subsequently spoke to Carol & I about our thoughts on the subject.

Now I rarely follow “characters” – likely because there are few television shows and fictional characters that engage me enough to follow their “activities” online.** And with characters where it’s not clear the “person” isn’t a person, there is a certain deception involved.

It’s a double edged sword for an artist – put forth a character that makes the fictional aspect apparent and many won’t follow an “unknown” character. Not unless they have something really interesting to say. Which is why I do follow Emme Rogers (as do many others): she’s fun, flirty and I think the conversation that takes place around her and her exploits brings a great sense of play to Twitter.

And characters can be very useful – and exciting – both for the artist and for the storyteller.

Allowing the character to live in other platforms before the film is released – and whilst the film is being made – gives the character a larger/broader life – and helps with publicity.

Related stories (lets call them “pre-stories”, for this point) can engage the audience and allow them to have a larger window into/to the character. After all, any character has a life that began before the point at which the film begins. Consider what aspects of their life you can explore and what kind of tools you could use to tell the story (video on Youtube et al., photos on Flickr, brief but enticing spurts on Twitter etc.) What parts of their story can bring more life to the character and the film? Where were the characters 6 months before? What interactions did they have the day before? That morning? You can see how this can be especially useful for something like a mystery/suspense project!

And, as I said in the above article (and as I have heard Monique Trottier mention with regards to books), there is no reason the end of the film needs to be the end. I can tell you that there have been several films (Red Road, Sideways) where I was consumed with reading more about the film after seeing it. Or where I’ve seen a film numerous times. So desperate was I to stay “engaged”.

For the artist, this process, while time-consuming, is in another sense, almost effortless. After all, as a writer and actor, I always created a background for the characters etc. And, much as I’d love to pretend I’m special, this is pretty standard practice. So such items can be extremely creative and satisfying – as well as a boon when it comes to building an audience.

And now, with all the tools available through social media, there’s the opportunity to give the audience more, to keep them engaged. Your creativity is the limit when it comes to where your story begins – or ends.

______Notes:

*We managed to talk about several social media topics, but there were some key things we didn’t have the time to address, so I hope we do have the opportunity to do a part 2 with this group so we can take our discussion to the next level. Oh & Erica and Leah Nelson (who was helping out by being Linkgrrl09 and finding the sites we all talked about) decided to play this video while I spoke, to help er, demonstrate my expertise…

**However, get any or all the characters from The Office on Twitter and I will press “follow” until I develop carpal tunnel.

Crowdsourcing has become an exciting concept in the business world. (I’ve explored the concept of Crowdsourcing many times before – if you’re interested in my views on the topic, the best place to look is my One Degree series. Other posts on the topic can be found in the “Crowdsourcing” category of this blog)

What’s exciting is that some innovative filmmakers are also making use of this concept.

Several projects are now getting content from the crowds (e.g. Lost Zombies), Crowdfunding (e.g. My Million Dollar Movie), and even making an “open-sourced” feature film (e.g. Swarm of Angels (I wouldn’t recommend the latter tactic, btw, but I’ve been wrong before).

The beauty of this is that engages the audience – creates a dialogue:

“I believe the Internet has created a kind of conversation that we are all involved with. We‘ve gotten used to that level of interaction. It‘s rewarding. Now we want that experience from our media.” Lost Zombies encourages its fans to document their own zombie encounters. In just a matter of weeks the community has grown to more than 400 active members with contributed materials flowing in from all over the world.” (- Lance Weiler. From Filmmaker Magazine: “When The Audience Takes Control : Lance Weiler breaks down the new models independent filmmakers are using to create a fan base.” Read this, btw – it’s excellent)

In this TCIBR podcast – Lost Zombies & Skot Leach (co-director of the film – along with his brother Ryan) (Listen on the Workbook Project site)

(Source: The Workbook Project )
Notes: (Questions asked by Lance Weiler, responses provided by Skot Leach)
(FYI, I am paraphrasing a great deal here)
– Community Generated Zombie Film
– Film made my the crowds “Zombie Documentary”
– Audience looking for more involvement, engagement
– Wanted to get people to contribute short bursts
– Chose Zombie theme – figured that could work, be enjoyable

– Open Data portability issues? Can you pull user data, so you have it?

Simply put, Yes.

Provided Framework, but users info is yours

Some people joined just to be part of social network (loved Zombies), without contributing

Audience before content

Compelling enough with Ning to retain audience while you flesh out story

Double-edged sword – Want to tell story, point of site, and don’t necessarily want people to be so caught up in the social aspect that they ignore story

– Dealing with crowds – what has been interesting, surprising?

How quickly people “got it”

Knew ARG community likes to piece things together – wondered if horror fans would get what they should do

Very quickly people start

Tweeted Ning’s feature re location – renamed “outbreaks”

And then people started really working with that, posting photos, videos

They also found news items and related (“someone bit at a party, this seems odd? – Could this be zombie related?)

People discovered they could contribute in their own unique way (asking question, posting audio files, drawings, video)

Like a conversation

– As project grows, any plans, ideas of breaking into “real world”

Exploring:

Possibility of live video editing/mixing, remix story – so each time you see the film it’s pulled in a different way

Interested in “Zombie walks” – a final event where site culminates in a final live event e.g. Zombie Apocalypse where zombie walks the world (people participate by documenting etc.)

- How to get involved with this film?

Go to LostZombies

Sign up

- Participate – submit items or even direct story by asking questions

– Interactivity becoming norm?

More immersive progression. Videogames, ARGs rise shows that the audience is ready to experience these types of things

Audience members can determine the pace, level they participate (observe, do a little, do plenty)

Playful, interactive quality

- These are social experience – like theatrical – Commununal Experience. People falsely believe that online = alienation. But now people are their own media company (can publish, upload video etc. and immediately can be seen around the world – just a matter of aggregating audience to it. Mirrors theatrical, 2-way communicational. These types of projects are very exciting.
________________________________________________________________________________________

“What started out as an art project for Arin Crumley and Susan Buice has turned into a larger conversation about the unique role of web technologies in getting voices heard and movements started.”… “The duo is about more than making movies that entertain — their work exemplifies an empowered approach to media and policy.” – From the “Beyond Broadcast 2008” blog:

One Store – they sell stuff off their websites (DVD, t-shirts – used BSide)

Google can teach you everything (search and you will find) (Takes time, but you can)

MySpace was first step

Was struggle, but wanted to justify making another film – now they can do these things while making the next film

MdotStrange “We Are the Strange”

Jeff Howe’s book “Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business” has a nice section on Mike Belmont aka MdotStrange. Here’s a brief excerpt :

“The 28-year-old self-taught animator has created a movie, entitled We Are the Strange, about a doll and a small girl who search for the perfect ice cream parlor. Along the way they encounter monsters, robots and an unusual hero named Rain. It’s an original, if unusual film. It looks like it was created by someone who has spent his life immersed in video games, the Internet and Japanese pop culture, as indeed is the case. Belmont made We Are the Strange without a cast, crew or budget. But because he video blogged the process of making the movie, he’d developed a sizeable fan base before he’d even finished editing his movie. In 2006 he released a trailer for the movie on YouTube, where it quickly became a cult hit. The notoriety led to a coveted screening at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. “

Looking for talent online is becoming increasingly popular. You can find actors for a few parts, one part, or even most of your cast online.

Here are the benefits and drawbacks, as I see them:Benefits:

You can find people that are talented and unique.

You gain attention for your film

Drawbacks:

May get plenty of lame videos

Might not get enough videos to cast (there’s much competing for attention, and someone really has to invest time to put up a good video)

Must focus on publicizing this call

Effort-intensive

If you are going only by audience votes (& I’d recommend against this strategy) you are likely to end up with either the most popular (but not necessarily the best, or your preference) or the one who can rally the most friends to vote for him.

You might find someone perfect but who doesn’t live in the town you’re shooting.

So what to do?

Suggestions

Don’t cast everyone online.

It will make your life unnecessarily difficult. Odds are, if you’re a filmmaker, you know many talented people. That said, there may be 1 or two hard to cast parts, and that’s when you should put out an online call

Try to look at the call from the auditioners point of view

Keep in mind:

There are many such calls out there. Some are legitimate, some are just a way for the filmmaker to get more attention for his/her film.

It takes effort and time for an auditioner to record an good audition.

You might love your premise and film, but the actor (and audience) has no such attachment.

Therefore:

you have to make your call as interesting and appealing as possible (ain’t this always my suggestion)

Make sure your site/page contains as much information about your production, team crew as is relevant, helpful. This not the time to brag/exaggerate. This is the time to put forth links to your imdb.com profile and other sites, videos etc. that verify your legistimacy. If you have a solid short film online (Hello, YouTube again… ) this will help – in fact, embed a relevant video in the “about” page.

Figure out if you’ll be letting the audience vote.

Voting engages people (think American Idol etc.) but you may not wish to be stuck with who people decide. (Especially since not everyone pays fair.) Consider allowing people to vote for their favorites and have an “audience favorite” who is guaranteed a role, and your favorite who will get the role. Or offer prizes for people to vote, but with similar caveat.

Consider Location – or how to accommodate

Sure, you run the risk of finding awesome talent who might not live in your area, but consider if this is really a concern:

If so, limit the call to people in a certain region

If only slightly, you might pay for their flight and find them a safe place to stay during shoot – doesn’t have to be luxury hotel, sometimes a guest room works. (1)

How to do it?

There are a whole bunch of ways to make this work. Here’s what I think works best – and is most efficient. (But it is certainly time and effort-consuming.)Have a place/home where this film/call lives.

Ideally start a specific site (purchase a domain name for your film, so if your film is Credo the site is Credo.com, casting = credo.com/casting or Credocasting as a home. This is the place where all the information will be & will be aggregated.

Have links on this site to other places online that the film/call exists (Youtube, Twitter, Facebook etc.)

Then expand outwards.

Use your blog to help promote and discuss (at various stages)

Put a call out on various social networks (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace)

As I understand, running an official contest on YouTube (“Community”) is expensive), so it might be best to just set up a group and get people to become members of a group (basically one click) to submit their videos (once uploaded to YouTube)

“[W]hen it comes to finding quirky unknowns , Casting Society of America board member Laura Adler says internet searches are fast becoming a go-to tool among her colleagues. She cites Christopher Mintz-Plasse, for example, who landed the role of “McLovin” in Superbad after casting agents spotted his clips on YouTube. “It’s a great tool for finding new faces,” she says. “Casting people use MySpace or FaceBook or Craigslist when they’re looking for an unknown young talent who’s odd or unique. You run the risk of getting bombarded by tons of people who aren’t right for the role but we get that anyway, on a daily basis.” (from Wired.com: “Filmmakers Find Fresh Talent on MySpace “)

Ning is a social site where you can create your own social network/niche. (E.g. a Facebook of sorts for a particular interest):

“One of the most popular Ning networks belongs to hip-hop mogul 50 Cent and has 107,000 members and counting. Chris “Broadway” Romero, creative director of new media for Fitty’s site, describes it as “an entertainment-industry news/rumor/editorial blog in the vein of TMZ.com, combined with unparalleled access and interaction with the celebrity.” Romero uses the site to cast parts for music videos and film projects, and one day, he hopes to release music and video directly to the public, bypassing record companies completely. To Romero, it’s nothing less than “a new entertainment platform, period.” A single Ning group can, in theory, serve as a platform for an entire business; collectively, the networks represent an ever-expanding commercial universe. (From Fast Company: “Ning’s Infinite Ambition ”
____

Notes:

(1)

Be upfront. And make certain that you have a decent online reputation to help allay concerns.

Established a real relationship with people you cast, or plan to cast and be sure you’re not a… scuzzy. (Sorry, can’t help you if you are). Again, try to put yourself in the auditioners shoes.

Again here, I make the assumption that both the filmmaker and the actor is educating themselves – looking into someone’s background online as well as checking references etc. before meeting/staying with them or allowing someone to stay at their place.

There are many sites that address safety concerns especially with regards to acting – so I’ll keep this brief – note to actors:

Never be desperate (yes, this seems impossible, at times, but trust me)

Trust your instincts

Never let someone convince you to do something that makes you uncomfortable

Be kind but upfront, ask someone to provide references (especially female references, if you’re a woman) so you can confirm your own safety. Anyone who would balk about this has their own issues. (Personal note: I developed a similar rule when I was dating: learned to say I was not comfortable going to a guy’s house early on. If they became jerky, I knew exactly who I was dealing with.)

While the internet has not yet established itself as an ideal way for filmmakers to make money for film, there is certainly the possibility (and the hope) that it will move in that direction. There are, of course, filmmakers – like MdotStrange – who have used their skilled online marketing to sell their work. As it stands, it has mostly become an excellent platform for filmmakers to establish themselves, showcase their projects, build their audience and fan base – and publicize their films.

This is the first in a number of posts on this topic – and basically a way to get some of the material I’ve been looking at into a more “talkable” format so that I can sound knowledgeable at the panel discussion on Wednesday.

There are advantages to using online channels:

“I’m very confident about digital media’s ability to support individual creators, doing the kind of work they want to do, often on tightly-constrained budgets. (Constraints = inventiveness, right?) I’m less confident that it will support the same gargantuan, diversified companies that raked in the big bucks in the days when there were only four TV networks, six movies released every weekend, a dozen important records issued on Tuesday.” Scott Kirsner – “Big vs. Small: Who’s Better Positioned Right Now? ”

“‘Filmmakers need to get past the romance of a theatrical release’, says Cinetic Media’s John Sloss. ‘People are so disproportionately preoccupied with getting their movies released in theaters that they’re not interested in alternatives. You make more money and get more exposure and promotion on HBO.’ Sloss says Verizon and AT&T are starting to offer $100,000 for 60-day mobile phone exclusives on indie films. ‘Netflix, Withoutabox and everybody else are trying to build a community. In the future, it will be about loyalty and community.’ – Variety “Frustrated indies seek web distrib’n ”

“The majority of traditional filmmakers generally can’t wrap their heads around “cross platform” storytelling, just getting a film made is hard enough. But, there are early-adopter filmmakers who understand that grabbing eyeballs and generating Users and Social Users online is going to set them apart from those who have to ‘buy’ advertising.

“Online dollars is not the current model, but, just like a Domestic Theatrical Release that increases value in overseas markets, those who can point to “webisodes” that receive high traffic etc. will garner more “traditional distribution” dollars in their sales cycles (particularly, if they have Geographic IP data on those eyeballs and can show how there’s already an existing fanbase in certain countries). A few of us have been at this for nearly 10 years, using the web as a vehicle to support our traditional projects – it works. And, it does expand our “story telling” options, which is what really makes it satisfying.” – a comment from “MikeD” on “Independent Filmmakers – Web Doesn’t Cut It“

“[Eric] Wilkinson and “The Man From Earth ” stirred up a buzz on the Internet last year when, a few days before its release, a bootleg copy was posted, and then shared, online. The bootlegged film found an enthusiastic audience who posted hundreds of comments and reviews about it. Within two weeks, the film went from number 11,235 on the IMDb “MOVIEmeter”, to number 6. Additionally, the film’s website had gotten over a million hits, and tens of thousands of unique page views. Wilkinson’s response was unexpected, but turned out to be a strategic home run. He embraced the fans of the film and thanked them for their support. Ultimately Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Virgin Megastore, FYE, J & R, and Amazon began either stocking the DVD or renting it as a download.” – Filmmakers and Animators At FilmColumbia

Publicizing

Link in your email signature to a particular promotional or blog post (you can change these frequently if you like). I have a reminder set to update my email signature weekly with a link for to my new blog post, video or whatever else I’d like to promote. This is not new school – but it’s pretty effective. Most of my friends, if they received an email blast would see something like “Watch my new video on Youtube” and have the best intentions, but wouldn’t likely get around to watching it. A link at the bottom of an email with an intriguing title is less pressure. Plus, while it requires very little effort on your part, it’s a great, subtle way to promote yourself with every email you send (think of all the people you email in a month!).

Is there a hook? Do you have a “famous” celebrity, webrity, singer, etc. in your film. Whatever, you know how to put the spin. (I once saw Pits in a local screening series (Celluloid Social Club ). It was cute film billed as “starring Alan Cummings”. Alan Cummings appeared for probably a minute of this 8 minute film. I’m certain this film was buoyed by this selling point, but do wish they hadn’t used the word “starring” (perhaps “featuring?”)

Keep people posted. A blog is essential for longer form, but the day-to-day or minuae to minuta can be communicated via Twitter. Add yourself to what you write, but be sure to include things like: “Meeting with Editor for final cut, hoping to have film live next week!!!”

Make it interesting, intriguing (and of course, honest). If you tweetabout your film (and you should), “Hey, check out the preview of our film” might be interesting to your friends, but something like “A sneak preview of our trailer” is more exciting to others. Also, the community is good at providing feedback, so you can say “Let me know what you think” – if you really mean it.

Fans

Fans want to be part of the process and there are great ways to have them be a part of your project. Not only can fans help boost your film, but connecting with them online and maintaining that contact can be very educational and supportive – and a great way to establish relationships with people like you and/or who like your work. It’s also immensely satisfying to see a response to your work online, a direct contact that traditional media doesn’t allow.

Think about the ways in which your film or elements of your film can be interactive.

You can gage elements. What works, what doesn’t. People online can be very vocal and opinionated – which, can sometimes be a bonus.

Consider allowing people to submit posters for your film, or music – or remix something create a music video . Contests can be fine as long as they are about incorporating your fans in the project.

Having a blog and a dialogue with fans through social networks also allows you to identify who your fans and supporters are – which can be invaluable.

Beyond that – make sure to be very responsive to your audience. Respond as much as possible to email messages, blog comments, twitter messages. While this can all be time consuming, you are creating a connection with people who are interested in your work that can be invaluable.

Consider – Crowdfunding. Getting people to find your film? Sounds crazy? Well, sure if you’re looking to make a $10 million film, but do you really need that kind of money to tell your story? If not there are plenty of microfunding options available.

The key here, I think, is to establish a network of people who are interested in what you produce, and make them feel like they are part of the equation (because, especially in a situation like this – they certainly are). (And of course, ask for help, don’t harass.)
.
I work with DreamBank (through Capulet ) where people post their dreams and ask their friends for contributions. I’ve always thought it would be a great way for filmmakers to raise money for a short film – especially if they have a large/strong online network/fans.

Another option is to place a widget like Chipin on your blog which allows you to collect funds directly on your site.

“To raise the $75,000 she needed for an album, she [Jill Sobule] set up a Web site — jillsnextrecord.com — in which her fans would serve as patrons for her next record in return for various rewards. Ten bucks earned them a digital download of the record, $50 an advance copy and a thank you in the liner notes, while $1,000 got them a personalized theme song written by the artist. Three people who paid $5,000 had Ms. Sobule play at their house. The person who gave $10,000 sang on the record.” – David Carr “Big Music vs. Fans and Artists “, New York Times (Hat tip to Scott Kirsner of Cinematech – I found this article on a post of his)

This is a similar module to Sellaband.com – except the artists controls it all. There is no real difference between financing an album and financing a film (or some aspect therein). For instance, instead of staging a music performance at a house, a comedy film can likewise arrange for their cast to do live-improve at a party or a short live performance.

Again, you don’t need to distribute your entire film – consider putting up short clips or things that the audience can play with, remix, annotated etc.

While YouTube is the most popular site for viewing videos, other sites (Such as Blip.tv and Viddler) are appealing to different audiences. However, it’s time-consuming to upload individually to all these sites. Apparently, TubeMogel solves that problem: “TubeMogul is a free service that provides a single point for deploying uploads to the top video sharing sites, and powerful analytics on who, what, and how videos are being viewed.” So you’re able to distrube your videos easily – and get numbers [for…].

Jeff Howe has posted another excerpt from his book (and if you’re interested in Crowdsourcing and you’re not reading it – bad puppy, bad, bad puppy. Frankly, it’s just so well written and interesting.)

Howe provides the example of M dot Strange a filmmaker who made his own film and career and used blogs, Youtube etc. to propel himself and his film into notoriety. Here are my thoughts on Howe’s excerpt:

The statement “fuck the system” (thank you Belmont) is not so much anti-establishment, as a comment on how the system is extremely flawed. As you wisely pointed out, choosing not participate in the system is a far cry from choosing not to participate at all. Many people have made and established their presence and careers online – outside of the mainstream conveyor belt.

OK, I am being a bit harsh and my opinion is, of course, somewhat biased – I am basing it on my own (and some of my friends’) experiences navigating the performance world for many years But it is impossible to ignore the fact that rather than being a potential vehicle to bring in exciting new content and performers into the arena, the system often becomes an obstacle course – stacked strongly against originality in every form. It is less about “what you can do” than weeding people out based on assumptions about what they can’t do and what they are not. It’s a viciously hierarchical system – and what someone can offer is an afterthought, frequently a non-consideration. There’s too much noise for the signal to get through.

What is wonderful about Crowdsourcing (and Social Media, in general) is that a part of the artistic obstacle course is being removed. Certainly this concept began, as you mentioned, with the advent of more accessible means of production (digital cameras, video recorders etc.) but the exposure wasn’t entirely there until Web 2.0. The value is becoming about what you do, rather than “who” you are or who you know. E.g. is your design any good (Threadless)? How about your music (Sellaband)? Failing that, is it popular? So, certainly there are pointless cat vids and frat stunts on Youtube (that’s no different than the mainstream which has no shortage of enduring stupidity – “Americas Home Videos” and the like, anyone?) – but the beauty is that a talented creator can get all the exposure he needs with a carefully executed social media plan. A talented and personable filmmaker, who doesn’t have the backing or funds to publicize and get his films into theatres can do what Belmont has so aptly demonstrated: make his work and profit outside of the mainstream. And if you don’t want to go it entirely alone, there are options as well – an unsigned musician can use something like Sellaband to fund and record her album with top people, which might have been untenable without the site and the opportunity it provides.

Most aren’t saying “Fuck the System” because that’s cool – they are saying that because they feel left out – and with good reason. For most participating in Crowdsourcing and social media, they aren’t necessarily eschewing the advantages of “a” system – they are advocating the need for more participation, greater openness, less restrictions – and being able to produce and/or watch material that has meaning to them. Amen.

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